The Haunting of Hajji Hotak: And Other Stories by Jamil Jan Kochai

DOTTERS BOOK CLUB PICK: December 2024 From Viking: LONGLISTED FOR THE 2022 NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FOR FICTION“An endlessly inventive and moving collection from a thrilling and capacious young talent.” —Jess Walter, author of Beautiful Ruins.A luminous new collection of stories from a young writer who “has brought his culture’s rich history, mythology, and lyricism to American letters.” —Sandra CisnerosPen/Hemingway finalist Jamil Jan Kochai ​breathes life into his contemporary Afghan characters, moving between modern-day Afghanistan and the Afghan diaspora in America. In these arresting stories verging on both comedy and tragedy, often starring young characters whose bravado is matched by their tenderness, Kochai once again captures “a singular, resonant voice, an American teenager raised by Old World Afghan storytellers.”*In “Playing Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain,” a young man’s video game experience turns into a surreal exploration on his own father’s memories of war and occup